Distracted

Shawn didn't seem like the fighting type. Although he didn't challenge his roommate to a fight the first them they met. The fact that his rank was high was enough proof that he was no where close to being weak. The three chatted about random stuff before finally going to bed.

The next day, on his way to class, Kayden was stopped by two students. Looking at their wristwatches, he saw that there ranks were s lit close to his. He was only slightly above them in rank.

"Look who we have here," one of them said. Titan four. It's nice to see you so early in the morning. So how are you?" he asked, his gaze falling on the wristwatch.

Kayden was confident in his strength, he wasn't sure if he could take on two students whose strength were close to his. He decided to play off the situation, hoping that they would let him go peacefully without any trouble.

"Oh, me? I'm good. Ya know? Just heading to class just like everyone else," he replied. The two students turned to face each other and started laughing.

"Well, in that case, we shouldn't keep Titan four waiting. Go on ahead," they said, stepping aside. Kayden was starting to think that his plan had worked. Suddenly, he felt something trip him, causing him to stumble to tell floor.

"Oops, sorry. My leg must've slipped," one of them said, chuckling to himself. Meanwhile, the other student grabbed Kayden and lifted him by the scruff of his shirt.

"Listen to me!" he declared, gazing straight into his eyes. "That rank of yours, better enjoy it while it lasts. The moment I surpass you, I'll be coming for it," he finished, before tossing him against the floor. See you at classes later today," he said before walking off with his friend.

Kayden quickly got back to his feet and dusted himself off before rearranging his mal-handled uniform.

'It hasn't even been three days and I'm already receiving threats...' he thought to himself.

"Hey, Kayden. What's up?' Paul asked, meeting him in the hallway. Kayden decided to keep what was happening to him a secret.

"Oh, nothing. I was just on my way to class," he lied. Paul looked him up and down. He could see some creases along his uniform and patches of dirt here and there.

"Okay, on that case, let's go together." Through out the normal classes, Kayden could feel someone looking at him constantly. Though he never gave in to knowing who that person was. Later that day, it was time for breakfast. Kayden was cautious as he entered the canteen.

As he walked to meet his friends, he could hear the other students whispering to each other. This was normal as the canteen was usually where gossip would spread.

Kayden's wasn't surprised that everyone knew what had happened this morning. Plus, he didn't really care. He sat down and enjoyed his breakfast with some of the real people in his life.

"So how've the other classes been treating you guys?" Madison asked to break the ice. The group would spend the remainder of breakfast talking about their experiences at the school so far.

Kayden's gaze would always shift to a certain direction. Everyone knew that a random student and Titan five were gunning for Kayden's rank. He would have to respond to their threats one point or another whether he wanted to or not. It was not like he had a choice in the matter anyway. Titan five wished to take his position by force. Kayden would just have to watch his back until the two decided to strike.

"Why the fuck did you do that?!" a student yelled in anger. Everyone turned to see what was going on.

"You spilled my drink on purpose! Now go get me a new one before I wreck you!" the student threatened, his eyes glowing bright red.

"I didn't spill your drink! You were the one that bumped into me while I was just minding my own business!" the other student retorted.

"What did you say?" the first student asked, his eyes wide in shock. He couldn't believe that someone so much weaker than I'm had the guys to talk back at him without showing any form of fear.

He leaned in closer to take a better look at the student, but the latter refuses to flinch.Then, he burst out laughing uncontrollably like a madman.

"You... this kid! Something must be wrong with you! I looked directly into your eyes, but you didn't blink. My face was so close to yours, but you didn't flinch! You must have never felt pain in your life!"

A loud noise was head as the other student's body was sent flying. His frail body hit the wall before collapsing, rendering him unconscious. A pool of his own blood soon surrounded him.

"That'll teach you some respect," the stronger student said, before getting back to his seat and enjoying the remainder of his breakfast.

Once breakfast was over, Kayden and his friends headed over to the combat class. The instructors kept on teaching them the Ikkyo technique. Meanwhile, Kayden was more nervous than ever. He couldn't get over the fact that two students were willing to do whatever it took to steal his rank.

He wanted to fight, but knew that he couldn't do much against two students whose power were a lot closer to his. He wasn't yet strong enough. The combat class went by without the students making a move on him. Still, there were two other classes left for the day. At the abilities class, the instructor was teaching them as usual.

"You need to limit your movements. You may not know this, but certain movements you make while fighting are irrelevant and only help to waste your energy and Mana. By eliminating such useless movements, you become more efficient and formidable as a fighter."

Kayden wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying. She noticed this, and proceeded to test him.

"Kayden, repeat what I have been saying for the past minute," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. Biting down his lips, he couldn't remember a thing she had said since the beginning of the class.

"I thought as much," she said, quickly pinning him to the floor before he could even see what she has trying to do. "You're distracted. I won't tolerate distractions in my class. Either your mind is here one hundred percent, or you're out of my class. What's your decision?" she asked him.

Kayden was in extreme pain from the pin down. He was finding it harder than ever to think. Still he needed to chose. Fast. "I promise I'll no longer be distracted in your classes! Now please! Let go of me before you Rio my arm off!" he pleaded with tears threatening to escape his eyes.

"You better not be lying to me," she said, letting go of him.

'I'm afraid she's already broken my arm and shoulder just from that pin down,' he thought, feeling an immense pain from his right shoulder blade. For the rest of the class, Kayden forced himself to focus on the lessons and nothing else. Thankfully, nothing happened during the class. Once the class was over, everybody was on their way to the magical weapons class. Kayden was more nervous than ever as he made his way to the final class of the day.

A lot of people could tell he was nervous just by looking at him. Plus, they had a pretty good idea what the reason was for his uneasiness. Rumors quickly began to spread about how Kayden was afraid of the one who was trying to steal his rank.

They were starting to see him as nothing but a weakling who couldn't deal with confrontation. Upon entering the class, Kayden looked left and right in search of the two students. He couldn't locate any of them in the room. His heart rate suddenly increased. Perhaps they were finally plotting against him.

Since today, the students who hadn't activated their weapons were giving it another try as well, the teacher chose to only focus on that throughout the period. As long as the teacher didn't pay too much attention to him, then he could focus all his attention on the two students.

Despite all his nerves, and even eventually accepting that he was gonna get beaten up, it never happened. Because those two students didn't make it to the last class for the day. Even if he didn't encounter them today, Kayden knew that they would make themselves a problem in his life sooner or later. All he could do now is grow stronger to ensure that something like that doesn't happen in the future.

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